


Hunger: Unfurled.

by lustact



Series: Hunger [1]
Category: Little Nightmares (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Angst, Cannibalism, Cannibalistic Thoughts, Cuddling in Rough Times, Eventual Friendship, Eventual relationship, Explicit Descriptions, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Insanity, Language, Minor Character Death, OC, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Own Characters - Freeform, Slight Alternate Universe?, Trust Issues, Violence, consensual cannibalism, i guess?, team work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2019-10-21 19:01:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17648186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lustact/pseuds/lustact
Summary: ⠀✁⠀The Maw.This place was utter hell. Filled to its death kissed brim withtrue monsters. Masked, ugly, twisted. Devoid of colour, consisting of greys, rotted fleshy reds, black. It was like the creatures that inhabited this place poisoned the very air with their presence. It would be difficult to imagine the Maw without them. Hell, you could even call the place itself a monster, for how it rocked and groaned in waves blessed by the whimsical touch of the Moon. The same could not be said about the Maw.⠀✃⠀





	1. The Hanging Man

**Author's Note:**

> ✑ Welcome to my playhouse, dear readers~  
> ⠀⠀This fanfic will basically just be a twisted and gory mess throughout most parts...maybe. Enjoy I guess...? (ㆁᴗㆁ✿  
> ⠀⠀Remember to stay safe. ♡

The Maw.

 

This place was utter hell. Filled to its death kissed brim with _true monsters_. Masked, ugly, twisted. Devoid of colour, consisting of greys, rotted fleshy reds, black. It was like the creatures that inhabited this place poisoned the very air with their presence. It would be difficult to imagine the Maw without them. Hell, you could even call the place itself a monster, for how it rocked and groaned in waves blessed by the whimsical touch of the Moon. The same could not be said about the Maw.  
Somewhere, where in its heart would lie, would be the Lady. A tall woman, draped in robes of a hostess, donned a pure white mask that may as well be named a type of moon. Whenever passing light, it would almost always seem to shimmer. Like _magic_ coated its outer layers...

 

However, monsters aren’t the only ones to inhabit the submerged ship. The tainted hearts of little children whisper in the darkness of endless night time. Sunlight had not once touched its innards in which they were kept. Never were they allowed out of their cradles and poorly decorated nurseries to feel the gentle warmth of a Summers day. They aren’t given blankets or new clothes. No. _Food_ does not get special privileges. A mattress and darkness are all you would ever need.

 

But _they_ certainly know there is more to life than this insane system. It seems two hearts think alike.

 

 

_Pitter...patter...pitter...patter..._

 

 

A sound she had grown accustomed to, one akin to a natural alarm clock. But also, not.  
The puddle created beside the old, brown and worn suitcase that she slept in, decorated with pictures stolen from different rooms, was stray water droplets escaping from a chip in the pipes that carried bath water past her living space. Not a great alarm clock of course, but she couldn’t afford having (or rather stealing) a normal alarm clock. It would be far too loud and would probably alert anyone to her presence in that little room. She didn’t need Roger emptying his flask of spare leeches down the pipes to hunt down the source of out of place noises again. Last time, she almost burned down her little hideaway trying to eradicate them. Unfortunately, quite a few of the little slimy bastards still lurked in the pipes just outside her old nursery she had escaped from about―... Possibly a few months ago now? Or longer? She wasn’t entirely sure. Time was a silly little concept to children.  
Throughout the Maw, this space was by far one of the safest. She definitely did not want to lose it to a bunch of stupid leeches.

 

Sweeping her pale little legs over the side of the large suitcase, she would never get over the shock of how cold the ground always was, despite always running around barefooted. Maybe she should try to get herself more clothing. All she had were panties she had gradually started to outgrow, little white shorts, a long-sleeved black shirt that had begun fraying at the edges and her yellow raincoat. Of course, it would never rain here in the Maw, but it served as decent protection from other things... Standing with her arms outstretched, eyes slowly adjusting to the dimly lit room with a single light source, Six shuffled over to the dripping water and held her hands out to catch the droplets, giving her face a 'wake-up-wash' she liked to call it. Six knew it probably wasn’t the greatest of ideas to use that water but she had to clean with something and she had made it this far without anything going wrong with her skin. So she deemed it safe. Now she was ready for another day of surviving.

 

“They won’t get me today...” Six muttered under her breath, barely above a whisper.

 

Her voice was hoarse and slightly croaky. It had been a long time since she had spoken, apart from the occasional self mutterings to keep herself from singing her screams into the darkness with insanity.  
The pitter patter of her tiny little footsteps fell into rhythm with that of the water droplets, singing their own lost song within the emptiness of a now Six-less room.  
Down the pipe she went, lighting her way with a single smokers lighter. The base was silver, heavy and cold in her tiny hand but light enough that she could carry it for an extended period of time, the little attached lid flipped open. It wasn’t much but it was light. Six knew she could always steal a flashlight but those constantly required batteries and for the amount of time she spent running around the Maw, those batteries would die quickly. Not to mention that she also had to go in water too, whether it be sewage waste or something else. Flashlights didn’t fair well in water, she thought.  
Somewhere in the darkness, just out of reach from her lighters glow, there was a scuttle. It caused Six to tense up and stop dead in her tracks, her flame flickered and danced, buffeted by the sweep of air. But when she heard the familiar little rattly sounding chortle of a hiding Nome, tensed shoulders relaxed and Six continued on her way, to the candle she’d placed at the end of the pipe and lit it.

 

Nomes were mushroom looking creatures that scurried around the Maw, hiding just as Six was. Their mushroom heads were pointed and tall like a dunce hat, their small bodies all too similar to a child’s. They were skittish and fast, so fast that even Six sometimes couldn’t catch them. So instead, you would have to outsmart them.

 

But Six wasn’t looking for Nomes right now, she was looking for food today, to stock up her pots scattered around her living space. And that means going to the kitchen pantry. Not a favourite place to be as the smells were so rancid and the twin chefs cooked anything they could catch but it was the only place she knew that was stocked up to the last crevice with different types of food. She had been surviving off of bread and leftovers from the children’s canteen lately as it was closer and safer with little risk of being caught unless Roger was in there.  
Proceeding to lift the hatch that separated the safety of Six’s make shift home to the dangers of the Maw, she took a small moment to gaze into the darkness of the tunnel. With a steady breath, she proceeded onward. Today felt like it was going to be hectic...  
Once out of the tunnel, Six then climbed the steps. Even though these steps were conveniently her size to climb, the scale of what hung above her head was far bigger. Chains the size of dragons stretched across the vastness above, mist clinging to their lonely forms, silent as manmade trees.  
Past that, there was a room. Six turned her lighter off and had to duck down into a large room. Taking a small moment to gaze around for assurance that no one was there, she glanced over to the large door. Closed. And it looked like it was latched, meaning she couldn’t go that way. Well then, looks like she would have to pass by in the vent on the other side of the room. Climbing the box beside the bed to then plant small and dirty feet upon the cotton surface of the mattress. Six grinned to herself and took the liberty of bouncing on it for a small moment then used the momentum of her last jump to hurl herself into the vent.  
So far so good.  
Passing through it and dropping down onto the mattress on the floor below, Six caught something in the peripherals of her sight.  
Legs.  
_Long_ legs.  
Hanging there.  
Her gaze slowly continued upwards but Six couldn’t see past the shoulders. But it looked like this person was _hanging_. She felt like she should be reacting to this, should be shocked or scared. Even more so knowing that this person had intentionally left crumbs for Six to pick up sometimes.  
But...she felt nothing. Not even a single tear shed. Something about this just...didn’t feel normal. Both the fact that they were hanging and Six didn’t feel anything to the sight. She just felt...numb. Normal. The usual. What made it even weirder was the fact that the small chair they presumably jumped off of was tiny and didn’t even reach their feet. Now she was suspicious. But even so, she couldn’t pay it anymore of her attention. She needed to keep moving. Somebody was bound to find the body and remove it soon.  


 

“Happens to the best of us, I guess...” she mumbled, passing underneath and seizing the chair, pushing it towards the door handle which would be too high for her to reach.  
Once open, Six dropped down off the handle, landing roughly on her feet into some black goop. Oh... Leeches would be near by then. Using her lighter to help pass through the darkness, another skittish sound reached her ears. The Nome again? This time, she followed it, speeding up her pace to a tip-toeing skip run and dived into the tunnel on the other side, following through to the end and out. There, a little Nome crouched beside an unlit candle. Even though they had no eyes, it felt like it was watching her. It looked like it was _cowering_ from her.  


 

“Hey, I won’t hurt you little guy,”

 

She stepped towards the candle and blessed it with the flame of her light source. The candle flickered to life and cast a warm glow into the dark and small surrounding.

 

“See?”

 

The Nome made a small chirp noise and raised its hands to the warmth, seemingly appreciative of what she had done. Six liked to see that her actions had, at least, a small impact on something. As much as she would love to stay and be cosy with the little Nome, she couldn’t.

 

And so, she continued onward.


	2. The Depths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ⠀ 
> 
> ✁
> 
> ⠀   
> Wherein a little nightmare develops a little night terror.  
> ⠀ 
> 
> ✃
> 
> ⠀

_When spindly fingers coil and curl around your ankle from deep below you, in murky water with nothing but what were presumed fish guts floating atop its surface, what are you to do?_

 

_You can’t scream under water._

 

His lungs — ripe to burst. Bruised and protested against every heave of beautiful oxygen pulled into their demanding fleshy prison, his throat unable to keep up and thus he choked on the very air that helped keep him alive. His body — trembling. Goose fleshed arms quivered and quaked to keep him from smashing his face against the concrete and his dark, messy and way pass due for a cut hair clung to his little head as water pathed intricate patterns down his malnourished and slightly sunken features.  
  


Meanwhile, beside him, the depths rippled with a horrifying secret. Paled, skeletal synonyms for hands, although not quite, reached far above the murky cesspools surface and cautiously trailed the edge of a small ledge the boy had managed to clamber upon, seeking refuge from her grasp.  
  


He was half tempted to stamp on those hands — children traps — but didn’t wish to be grabbed again. His assault of frustration wouldn’t be as effective as he would want it to be either what with no shoes, only grazed bare feet. On his right ankle he bared a manacle, broken but still doing its job. It stopped him from moving his foot properly, resulting in a slight limp whenever he needed to walk and it weighed and slowed him down significantly while also slowly working away the skin from his bones.  
  


But the _runaway kid_ would not let it stop his attempt at escape.  
  


Narrowly avoiding those traps for hands that very nearly discovered his toes, he rolled onto his side and used that as momentum to push him to his feet and pelted into a full on but messy sprint, the souls of his sore feet slapped against his current surface and echoed in the surrounding space, almost mocking him with the fact that he was still far from any sort of comfort. Even his clothes — a simple long sleeved blue shirt with slightly loose bottoms that were torn at the seams, weighing heavy with pungent water, offered absolutely no comfort. But that didn’t matter to him at this moment in time. Escape was always on his brain and as long as he stayed far away from that haggard creature lurking beneath water surface, then that was comfort enough.  
The kid had quickly discovered that the creature couldn’t quite pull itself up onto any surface. Hands would roam ledges but it never made much of an attempt to hoist itself from the water and whenever he _did_ manage to steal a glance at whatever part of the creature he could see, most of the time being its hands, it looked almost...rotted. Sometimes bloated. Maybe if it did manage to climb and stand where gravity ruled, perhaps it would just fall apart. Maybe water had soaked through not only skin, but bone too. What a disgusting image to picture at the back of his mind... A corpse made fish.

  
As he safely made it to yet another room, luckily this one didn’t have a large expanse of water for him to swim across and run the risk of being grabbed again. Already a patch of skin on his left shin had begun to blossom a lovely shade of yellow and purple from the last time. It had taken him a piece of a food can in order to free himself from her clutches, sliced a finger off her he did. When she had bled, it wasn’t the usual crimson but a dark brown. Like...when he saw a rat that had been dead for a while and it’s blood had turned brown. Like that. Yet he didn’t understand how the creature could be alive if it’s blood showed it was supposed to be dead. Strange.

  
As for being able to swim, he didn’t know how he did it. It just came to him. Like a _sixth_ sense. He could have sworn he had no idea how to swim before, but now... It was easy. Maybe when he had fallen down that pipe and straight into these freezing and unforgiving depths, maybe it awakened something within him. Survival senses heightened as he had very little idea what lay deep beneath his feet.

  
After carefully balancing across a stray and creaky floorboard to reach the safety of the other side, the Kid leapt to grab the handle, dangled like a bell on string and swung his legs to carry the momentum he built up to make sure the door opened then dropped with a heavy thud. His arms were exhausted by this point. So were his legs. And basically, entire body. He should probably rest, but... What if that creature did manage to get out of the water and get him? What other monstrosities lurked down here? Apart from the rats and—... Oh yeah. Leeches. Disgusting. They were pretty much monsters themselves.

  
But his body was screaming for rest. He was trembling simply trying to stand up right. Yet with the adrenaline pumping through him, he didn’t yet feel the effects. And if he rested, he’d likely wake up sore. Best he get out of the area before even thinking anymore about rest. If he felt he could keep going, he should. A stupid decision on his part as he would most likely really regret it later but he _felt_ fine enough to continue onward.

  
The coldness beneath his feet sent occasional shivers up his spine and he was more than certain by now his lips had long since turned purple. He longed to be in bed again, that uncomfortable, dirty mattress he had slept on while being regularly checked on by mister long arms himself. But at least that had been a sort of comfort. Much more comfortable than anything down here proved to be.

  
Eventually stumbling upon what looked to be a sort of emptied pool looking thing, the Kid shoved his hand into his pocket and shone his torch into the pit. It was rusty and grey, like the rest of this place. With a puddle of leftover water at the bottom, green and grimy from who knows what. As he guided the beam of light further forward, his stomach dropped, perhaps bounced then dropped again. To the vicinity of his ass no less. There, clogging up the entirety of a large pipe hole he knew he had to go through, were maybe several shimmering leeches. _Fan–fucking–tastic_. And after everything he had been through already, the Kid almost retched simply at how the leeches seemed to squirm and squelch together in what looked to be a silent battle of `whoever gets through the pipe hole last is a rotten egg’. Of all the things that could possibly make him feel ill now... It was also then that he remembered he hadn’t eaten in a while, so try as he might, his body wouldn’t heave anything up anyway.  
Formulating a plan of action in his mind of how to get the leeches to move, it was then he spotted an empty food can rolling around with the gentle swaying of the Maw. What if he threw that at the leeches to get their attention? And hopefully, shift their slimy asses.

  
With this in mind, the Kid leapt down from his perch into the pit and set his plan in motion.

 

＊＊＊

 

A flicker of the lights, the choked scream of both water and creature alike rung in his ears in electrical currents to the point of almost certain deafness.

  
It was done.

  
Oh thank whatever deity watching over him. Finally.  
Peering over the edge of the sort of wooden pier, the Kid’s piercing gaze met with the darkened depths once more but this time, with braveness and a hint of smugness. He had overcome its creature. To the point where he now gazed upon its slowly sinking corpse, bits of charred flesh floated on the surface for a few moments before sinking also, remnants of what was one of the Maw’s many little nightmares. Now, a mere dream.

  
It was here he finally allowed a moment of relaxation, collapsed to his knees with a thud that shook the unstable structure and finally exhaled a breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding. It came out trembling, slow.

  
He had done it.

  
But this wasn’t over yet. No, no, no. Little did he know that _that_ was nothing compared to what else was to come in the future.

  
_And then some._

  
Rubbing his splintered hands against his soaked thighs briefly for a bit of assurance that his life was indeed still intact, that he wasn’t some fried fleshy mess also, he shakily tried to stand. It took him a few moments and eventually got there.

  
“Gotta...keep moving...”

  
His hand flew to his neck, rubbing at it in surprise. Shit, he sounded awful and his throat felt like sand paper. Although, when would he ever need to use it? It wasn’t like there was any other person down here nor would anyone be sane enough to drop down here either. Yet if anyone did _now_ , it’d be much easier thanks to his efforts. The Kid felt almost jealous...  
With a broken and mostly choked groan–cough, he willed his body to move again. Since he had electrocuted the creature, the water no longer rippled with unnatural movement and the power must have tripped as the lights went out. No electrical hum in the air, just a slight leftover static that made the hair on his body raise. It should be safe now to travel in the water. Well — actually, he had no desire to jump back into that creatures grave. So with a hop, skip and a jump, the Kid leapt from his broken temporary safe haven and landed pretty neatly on the floating television in the water.

  
But suddenly, the water rippled. Bubbles along with browny–red goo grew in size quickly. The Kid’s heart pounded in his ears, every instinct stuffed inside that tiny body of his screamed at him to make the final jump to safety. As his knees bent, body racing with energy, a charred black hand with unsightly wounds that bubbled and popped and oozed with green puss reached from the water. Not if but a millisecond later, a head followed, mouth agape in a heart stopping shriek, her left eyeball was hanging by its veins from where it was supposed to be. The skin all over her face was alive and moving with bubbles, puss and maggots began writhing from her nostrils, the corners of her jawbone as clear as day and the skin peeled away like old wallpaper and hung from her face in streams.

  
That sight alone was no nightmare. The correct term for it would be a night _terror_.

  
With a distorted noise, the impossible and ghastly beast made a final reach for the child, too pale and frozen on the spot to even think about moving. All colour had drained from him. _How?!_ How was she still alive?!  
Something in him just snapped when her hand was millimetres away from him.

  
“Why won’t you just fucking die already?!”

  
His scream was hoarse and broke with almost each syllable, trembling in their wake. But his anger and annoyance was as clear as day.  
He swung his arm back suddenly, flashlight in hand and smashed it against the abominations face with a sickening crunch and such force that her jaw came flying clean off her charred skull and shattered the glass of the flashlight.  
Blood spattered like a wonderful fountain across his face, soaked into his hair, seeped into his clothes and the scream that followed had him reeling back into the state of mind of that of the child he was as the creature began to create miniature tidal waves with her thrashing. Heart racing against its own blood pumping through him, he took the chance and made the leap, briefly using the creatures bony shoulder as leverage to get him to the other side. As his foot tore away, so too did a bit more of her skin that clung between his toes like soggy mud. However, his mind didn’t register this. The only thing there was an extreme want to be away from here.

  
Once finding firm ground (save for the rocking of the Maw), he made a dart for the ladder on his left and clambered clumsily up it in his haste, feet slipping but hands curled into white knuckled fists when curling around each bar. He could still hear his blood pumping in his ears, feel his heart against his ribcage. That image would forever be burned into his mind.

  
A gentle, warm looking light filtered through a grate above him that lifted easily enough with a creak that the runaway kid slipped passed.

  
A moment of relief. Only briefly.

  
But as soon as he had, just when he thought he could _finally_ rest here, two impossibly long arms reached out from the darkness in front of him. Just as the grate clanged shut behind him, he found himself in the janitors clutches.


	3. The Companionship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ⠀  
> ✁  
> ⠀ 
> 
> Wherein hope blossoms.
> 
> ⠀   
> ✃  
> ⠀

The metal that grazed her cheek was as rough as her hair, as cold as her toes and as worn with age as her coat. Rusted in various areas most likely caused by gooey snot and tears of many other previous children, too scared out of their minds to even attempt at escape and pissing themselves on the spot with the mere thought. Six wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case. Urine, tears, sweat and who knows what else. Maybe it was a mix of leftover rat shit as these cages weren’t exactly stored away properly. Even if they were, this place was so infested that maybe there was no escape for these cages. Six almost felt as sorry for the cages than for the children stuck in them.

 

During one of her...moments...Six had typically fallen for the very obvious trap that had been set. To catch her, or something else, was yet to be known.  
Finally finding herself trapped in one of the cages she had seen many a time around the Maw, almost, _almost_ , made her lose her nerve. _Almost_ had her despairing. _Almost_ made the yellow coated child finally give up on her efforts at escape and keep _living_. But she wasn’t to be overestimated. There was indeed still a working brain in that tiny little head of hers.

 

Taking in her surroundings as she lumbered herself to her feet, the cage rocked and creaked with Six’s movement. High up. The cage was high up. Teetering, even. Grasping at the bars in front of her, she chanced a look through them, to find she was atop another cage. Six didn’t even need to think, her body worked on its own as she threw herself from side to side in the cage, knees, ribs and palms alike knocking against the bent bars with each little struggle, surely making enough racket to awaken the entirety of this monster house.  
Finally, with one final shove that broke the skin on her knuckles that scraped against a sharp edge, the cage went down with an ear splitting **_clang!_** and everything crippled to the point where the top had flown off. It was here Six paused— to suck the blood away from her knuckles and listen for any other signs of life aside from the occasional shuffles from the other trapped children who seemed to not even notice her. They always seemed so lifeless, like they were. caught up in a spell or just had straight up given up on life. It was because of that attitude that Six didn’t bother with them. Never tried saving them. Never tried speaking to them. Their presence was sometimes just as unsettling as any other creature here.

 

Once sure enough no one was coming, Six crawled from the remains of what had tried and failed to contain her (a small victory today at least). Maybe she should feel relieved? That she wouldn’t be passed off as just another child on the Maw. But still, just like when she saw the hanging man earlier, she felt numb. There was nothing there. She quickly came to miss the feelings of fear she had gotten mere moments ago from being trapped.  
Giving her limbs a good shake to make sure everything was still where it should be, Six crept around the corner of the bigger cage to inspect for some sort of crack somewhere in which to escape. Whether to continue onward or head back, she was unsure of yet. Today was too many close calls as it was. Her previous plan of heading to the kitchens for more food may have been dashed, her legs quivering already. They very nearly sent her soaring into the air from freight when someone _spoke_.

 

“Hey!”

 

Whispered a scratchy voice. Oh, it had been _so long_ since she had heard another voice! Could it have been her imagination? A desire her sane self craved for?  
Maybe she froze up because after a minute, it happened again.

 

“Hey, over here!”

 

Lifting her attention to a much larger cage besides another small rectangular one, a kid's hand waved from its confines.  
Six cautiously approached, kneeling a little to peer better inside.

 

Inside was a boy. His long hair was a mess and there was a very pungent smell wafting from him. It reminded Six of rotting fish guts strewn out on a chopping board. He wore a blue long sleeved shirt stained with blotches of something, frayed at the ends trousers and on his right ankle, a manacle. The skin around that area looked raw and incredibly sore and irritated. However, the rest of his skin look very pale and bone like. But other than that, he looked okay. As for his eyes, Six could hardly see them. Yet as he shifted under her criticising gaze, she caught a quick glance. Vibrant, very alive, crystal blue eyes. They were the prettiest things she had ever seen.

 

“You’re not brain dead?” was all Six managed in response, her own voice weary from disuse but her tone held confusion and a sort of bewilderment.

 

A short snort escaped the other and Six almost rocked back on her heels in astonishment. This boy was full of so much _life_. He _radiated_ friendliness and warmth like natural sunlight on her skin when she had managed to find a window on the upper levels once. She was absolutely baffled. Why was he so... _alive_?! She couldn’t tell if she liked it or not. Had he fallen so deep into insanity where it made it seem like he was alive? Bloody hell she was jealous.

 

“`Brain dead’? I don’t _think_ so?”

 

As he exaggerated on that word, it took a moment of weird silence until Six finally got the pun and ever so slightly, the corner of her lips pulled upward into a half suppressed and crooked smile, although she didn’t acknowledge it vocally.

 

“That’s...good—” she was a girl of few words today.

 

“Can you help me out of here?” the boy said immediately after he was sure she had stopped talking.

 

Again, she had been taken by surprise by him despite being well alert this time. Or maybe it was merely the question itself. No one ever asked for help. Everyone gives up before they even try.

 

“I...uh, yeah? I can try...” Six muttered and stood up straight, circling the cage to find any weak spots. “Can you look around in there? See if you can find any weak points?”

 

“It’s a bit dark...and my flashlight—...broke.” he said.

 

She would truly be lying if she said his pause didn’t unsettle her but she brushed it off. Digging her hand into her pocket, she flicked on the lighter and knelt once again to hand it to the boy through the bars, “Here, use this.”

 

Taking it gently from her, ice cold fingers brushed against Six’s briefly and she began to playfully wonder if he was actually a corpse with a soul.

 

“Ah, thanks—...?” he paused expectantly.

 

Yet again, it took her a moment to realise what he was getting at. Her name. “Oh, Six.”

 

“Six? Like the number?” he asked, seeming to try and keep the hushed friendly conversation going. It seemed it was doing both their voices some good.

 

“You sure you can count past 5?” Six wittingly teased, attempting at not being too harsh with her wording.

 

His chuckle that followed thawed something out inside Six. Like a memory box long since kept hidden away springing open and baring gold to the poor.

 

“Very funny.” the boy said rather amused and with a roll of his eyes.

 

“I told you my name. Now you tell me yours.” Six wanted a name in return of course.

 

“He’s known as the _runaway kid_...” a much more smaller and fearful voice chimed in, drawing Six’s attention to the rectangular cage where a familiar mangled body was curled. “I’ve seen him around...” They added.

 

Well, Six was certainly finding all sorts of surprises today, wasn’t she? She rounded the boys cage to kneel in front of the rectangular and recognition struck her. This was the boy she more often than not saw in the canteen. They talked rarely but he provided her with bread whenever she passed and when he spotted her. He had helped a great deal during one of her moments. They had been getting worse recently...  
Anyway, seeing him here made Six panic a little.

 

“What are you doing here...?! Wh—” she had never felt so much concern, her throat tightening with a lump. And when the boy lifted his head with a broken smile, Six almost broke along with him.

 

“Seeing you run around and do as you please...and then seeing other kids try to escape, too... It...it inspired me to also try at escaping, but... Well, I’m here. I don’t think there’s much detail to go into...” he said, voice almost empty. “Everyday feels like an eternity...it's always dark... I’m ready to go now, Six...—”

 

“—No! No, you can come with us.” Six interrupted, she faintly heard the runaway kid behind her mutter an `us?’.  
What was this? It wasn’t like her to get emotional. But to feel emotion and with the promise of companionship, maybe the three of them could escape the Maw _together_.


	4. The Trio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ⠀  
> ✁  
> ⠀ 
> 
> Wherein a small climb is made.
> 
> ⠀   
> ✃  
> ⠀

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✑ My deepest apologies for the slowness in my most recent update.  
> ⠀⠀My gamer grind has been going quite hard lately and a project has been demanding my attention.  
> ⠀⠀This chapter may not be as enjoyable but I hope it is satisfying enough to please.  
> ⠀⠀Remember to stay safe. ♡

It had taken both Six and the Kid to free her friend. His cage had been a lot sturdier than their own had been. The Kid had even suggested just leaving him behind, that they didn’t have time to waste on him. At that, Six had snarled at the Kid and mentioned how she could have said the same and left him.

 

Leaving him behind was not an option to Six. After everything he had done for her. All those times he would encourage Six to recall her memories, _always_. That she should never forget who she truly is. Her identity. It puzzled her at first, but then it all made sense. Being trapped in this place would send someone mad and lose their will to live and forget who they are.  
He would mention how he had long since forgotten who he was and that it was terrifying not knowing who he was.  
The very least Six could do was bring him with her, especially as he had already gone through the process of attempting escape. She wouldn’t let him stop here.

 

As he crawled through the broken bars Six and the Kid had worked at bending sideways to make a small opening, Six cast him a worried glance. He looked worse than before, when she would see him in the canteen. He already looked deficient in all nutrients, but now that she could get a proper look in the dim lighting, he looked as though he would collapse at any second. His legs looked crippled, his body was hunched over and his hands and feet had numerous dry patches of peeling skin that bled when he picked relentlessly at clotted scabs.

 

 _Coping mechanism..._ Six thought.

 

Offering him the tiniest of smiles, it was the Kid that spoke up next.

 

“We shouldn’t hang around for too long, we’ve made enough noise to raise the dead. We should go.” He looked a little jittery, eager to just keep moving now that he wasn’t curled in a cage.

 

Six frowned.

 

“I know that we should keep moving, but we should rest first.” she said.

 

The Kid looked at her incredulously. “We can’t just stop for a while because of your friend! I know his legs are messed up and all, but—”

 

“Says the one who has a manacle attached to his ankle and limps with each step.” she hissed, venom dripping in her tone this time. “You would slow us down just as much as he would. _We rest._ ”

 

The Kid frowned deeply at Six, his gaze flickering to her mangled friend beside her who shifted uncomfortably on his scabbed feet. This Six girl, she was fierce that’s for damn sure. He didn’t know if her decision was a smart one but what with their situation, he wouldn’t want to pick a fight with her and make things worse than they already are.

 

“Where do we rest, then?” he gave in.

 

At this, Six looked like she eased up her defensive side and the tense air began to melt away with it.

 

“Up ahead past that door is a little room in the ceiling. We can rest there.”

 

“You’ve been here before...?” asked her friend who had been silent until now, his insecure little voice a stark contrast to Six’s or the Kid’s. “Is it really safe...?”

 

Six turned her shadowed eyes to him and nodded, lips slightly pursed. “I looked around this place once. Didn’t stay long enough to confirm that it’s safe but that small room looked safe enough to me.”

 

“We can take turns keeping an eye out,” the Kid offered, “if that makes you feel better.”

 

Six was glad for that suggestion, nodding her head appreciatively and lead the way.

 

 

＊＊＊

 

 

It had been a huge struggle to help Six’s friend climb the grating to that tiny room in the ceiling. Because his legs were partway twisted around, it was somewhat of a miracle that he even managed it in the end and Six found she highly admired him for his attempt at escape even with his deformed legs. It also made her think. If he could do it, why didn’t anyone else? Fear made them stupid, she concluded.

 

With all three of them now in this little room, Six examined the state of it since last being here. Not much has changed. At all, really. The floorboards were wonky and protruded upward slightly in places, not securely screwed down. On her left was an old bath tub, propped up on one side with a rather large stone. By the head of the bathtub, stood a lonely candle, wax that had once oozed and sought escape from a chasing flame and pooled at its base now frozen in time from last time she had set it alight. The Kid had hobbled over to the candle and struggled a little in snapping it free from being half melted into the floorboards and continued to waddle with it to the centre of the small room with a sort of sheepish grin to Six, who set it ablaze once more.

 

Six’s friend was the first to seek warmth from the tiny substitute for a fire, his hands dangerously close to the flame that Six almost mistook the little heatwaves as her friends hands melting.

 

“Don’t get too close,” she warned softly, “you’ll get hurt.”

 

_If only she knew._


	5. The Getting–To–Know–Each–Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ⠀  
> ✁ 
> 
> ⠀  
> Wherein a name is given.
> 
> ⠀  
> ✃  
> ⠀

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✑ I am so sorry for such a late upload. Everything has been going on lately but I was desperate to get a least one more chapter done this month.  
> ⠀⠀My apologies for any mistakes in this chapter, it was rushed. I will review it late and correct any mistakes.

_Three children sat around a candle._  
_One knows not his name,_  
_another who terrorises his own nightmares;_  
_And She._

 

 

* * *

 

 

As specks of dust drifted like lost souls amongst the three children, their screams would go unnoticed even in this deathly silence that lingered like the plague. No one knew what to say and with the janitor just a few floorboards below them working tirelessly, it’s probably fair that they don’t say anything at all. Or maybe, simply too terrified.

  
Well, that was what Six had been thinking until a small voice sprung surprise.

  
“Um...so... Six, uh... How have you been? Y’know... Since I last saw you...” whispered her friend, restlessly picking at a scab on his knee.

  
Six watched for a moment, took mild interest in the thin stream of blood until reluctantly answering.

  
“As good as I _can_ be. Those _things_ are...coming back more...”

  
“`Things’? What `things’?” before her friend even got a chance to say anything, RK’s curiosity got the better of him. His tone was that of what a curious child his age _should_ sound like.

  
Six shot him a look for interrupting but truly appreciated how much more livelier he was. She still didn’t understand him. Where did it come from?

  
Noting that she looked too deep in thought, Six’s friend quietly answered for her. Seeming as they were travelling together, maybe it was best RK knew. Just in case... “Six has...a thing. She says that...sometimes she gets so hungry that it feels like she’s... Like she’s dying... Even if she ate...a small while ago.”

  
“Like uh, extreme hunger pangs? Haha! Let’s hope she doesn’t end up eating one of us, huh?” RK said in a lighthearted tone meant for fun, but the silence that ensued afterward along with the sudden drop in temperature in the room had his teeth and bones alike rattling with unease and his grin faltered, smacked off his face by the dread that suddenly filled him. But why?

  
“...Well—” began Six’s friend.

  
“Drop it.” Six’s tone couldn’t have come out more snippy, drawing her legs further against her body.

  
Both boys fell silent for a long time, RK’s eyes glued to the girl with the yellow coat. Something was amiss... He could sense it, almost taste something very bitter in the air around them. Maybe he should try lightening the mood?

  
“Sooo... You got a name?” he asked Six’s friend.

  
Glancing up from a spot on the ground that had become very interesting after Six’s outburst, he slowly shook his head, streaks of his greasy and dirty hair wriggled like dangling worms in the air.

  
“I can...never remember it...”

  
RK arched a brow. Couldn’t remember? Then again, he himself couldn’t quite scramble his brain enough for his own name.

  
“Why not give yourself a name then?” RK suggested lightly, bringing his ankle close to him to fiddle around with the manacle.

  
“Give myself a name...? Like what...?”

  
“What do you like?” Six cut in, earning a look from RK but _not exactly_ a bad one.

  
After a moment of silent thinking, he said, “Birds. I really...like birds...”

  
“See? There is a start. Got a favourite kind of bird? I read there are _so many_!” To exaggerate his point, RK flung his arms out wide, almost hitting Six in the face but missing by mere inches.

  
Immediately, the girl with the yellow coat grabbed ahold of RK’s arm, uttering a sharp, “Ssh! You’re going to give us away!”

  
“Oh yeah, sorry... My bad.” a sheepish scratch to the back of his head and they were back on topic.

  
“...Skylarks.” He answered after a long moments pause.

  
Before he had met Six, he would find pieces of paper and old books scattered everywhere. The rest of the children around him had never known how to read but he had vague knowledge. From the moment he had read about the skylark, known to be farmland birds who sing even while in flight, he longed to be a farmer, to own a little bit of land and tend to his sheep while listening to the skylarks, watch as they nest and study them up close.  
But he knew that was never to be.  
He knew his fate was a doomed one.  
That was until one day, a girl in a yellow coat, keeled over on the other side of the canteen bars. She was a tiny thing, seemingly smaller than he was. He had thrown her bread. She had uttered a small thanks. And it started to become an everyday thing when he would sit in the same place and see her pass by. Eventually they had begun speaking. Both fantasising about escaping the Maw and imagined what the mainland looked like. How great is must feel to walk upon soft, green grass barefoot rather than metal and rotting wood.  
And then, finally, he longed to do what he had told Six many a time. The way she seemed to walk about almost without any fear in her steps, he wanted to do that. To get as much food as she wanted, he wanted to do that. Almost taste the air of freedom like she had mentioned she almost accomplished, he _wanted_ that. So he had tried his hand at escaping. But because of the lack of nutrients, the very little room to run about in, the way he always sat with his legs this way and that without a care for what it would do, he had doomed himself. Mangled legs allowed him little movement and shot sharp jolts of pain throughout his entire body. It hadn’t been long till the janitor caught him, threw him in the prepping cages and he gave up there and then. But, as always, there Six was, he _could_ hear her again. See her bright yellow coat. Watched as she handed her lighter to the other kid he had seen running about but never stopped to talk to him.

  
And now, here he was. Sitting with them both. Talking with them. Aside from the familiar tang of blood in his mouth as he bit his lips, he could almost taste his freedom. They just...had to stick together now, right?

  
“ _Lark_.” Six’s voice, so gentle and unfamiliar but very welcomed, broke through his thoughts.

  
“W...what?” he muttered.

  
“Your name. It should be _Lark_.” she said.

  
There was a strange tugging feeling in his chest. An ache that he had felt whenever filled with dread but it was different this time. Warm, in a way. Before he knew it, tears burst forth from Lark’s eyes.

  
“Lark... My name is Lark.” Lark said through small choked sobs, a genuine smile on his cracked lips.

  
His vision was so blurred with joyous tears, he missed the tender smiles Six and RK gave him


End file.
